Working With Affiliates
An Introduction to Affiliate Programs
By Shri Henkel
Jan 17, 2006, 16:55

You are a business owner who has a product or service to sell. Do you have a limited sales force and need an alternative way to find potential customers? An affiliate program may be a great alternative for you.

What Is an Affiliate?
An affiliate is a person or business that promotes your product. You pay them a commission for any sales they bring to your website. One advantage is that you only pay for the actual sales. You can choose to reimburse your affiliates for sales and/or leads. You pay less for leads and more for sales. Affiliate programs will bring you into contact with people who might never reach.
Your affiliates place your website link on their website. This link directs visitors to your website. When visitors buy your product, the affiliate earns a commission.

In order to implement an web-based affiliate program, your product will need an online presence. This will require that you have a webpage to promote your product. Affiliates want interesting products, an easy program and an established business. They don't want to promote your product if your business is unreliable or unstable.

How Do You Find Affiliates?
Once your website is online and the product is ready, you'll need to seek out affiliates. Establish the details of your affiliate program on your website and then list your program on affiliate directories. These are some directories:
www.cashpile.com
www.clickbank.com
www.commissionsoup.com/
www.fineclicks.com
www.leadcrunch.com/
www.linkshare.com
www.leadhound.com/
www.profitstogo.com

Multiple Benefits for Your Affiliates
There are a variety of affiliate options including single tier and multi-tier programs. “Single tier” programs pay your affiliates when you make a sale. “Multi-tier” programs give affiliates a commission when they recruit affiliates for you. When recruits bring you sales, the sponsors are paid a commission.

Keeping Your Stats and Managing Your Program
A simple option to manage your affiliate program is www.clickbank.com. This program offers your affiliate stats. Clickbank is very simple and reasonable, but there are several programs to choose from:
www.affiliateshop.com
www.affiliatezone.com
www.clickxchange.com
www.commissionjunction.com
www.theaffiliateprogram.com

Determine a Price
Consider your product when determining your price. A high price may not be the best approach if a reasonable price will bring in more sales. Affiliate payments for lower priced products are less, but there should be more consistent sales. A reasonable price will draw more customers to your site.

How Hard Do You Work on the Program?
Study effective marketing strategies used by affiliates. Qualified and experienced affiliates look for a program where the merchant puts a lot of effort into the program. Affiliates are there to help you, not to do all the work for you. You need quality text, clear pictures, and banners for them to use. Provide sales letters, email suggestions, and sales materials for your affiliates.

Affiliate programs can be a wonderful way to build exposure and sales for your product. More and more sites are utilizing affiliate programs and it could be a solution for your business.

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